AARP Advocates For Financial Relief For Wisconsin Caregivers

After Sharon Zimmer’s husband was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2018, she stopped working full-time to help take care of him.

“I didn’t want to have any regrets,” says Zimmer, 66. “Anything that was going to benefit his life, I wanted to be there with him.”

Zimmer and her husband, Chuck, 68, live in La Crosse, where they have taken part in exercise programs, walks, occupational and physical therapy, and classes in drumming and chair yoga. She also pays $40 an hour to a local home care agency to give herself a break several times a week—money that comes out of the couple’s retirement savings.

AARP Wisconsin is urging lawmakers to provide financial relief to family caregivers like Zimmer through state and federal tax credits that would help to reimburse caregivers for out-of-pocket expenses such as respite care.

A national AARP survey conducted earlier this year found that 84 percent of registered voters age 18 and over support a federal tax credit for unpaid family caregivers who work; that support runs across party lines, gender, race and education levels. The poll included interviews with 4,000 voters, including in 28 highly competitive congressional districts. Separately, a 2024 AARP survey found that 67 percent of Wisconsin voters 50 and older would be more likely to vote for a candidate who advocated for a caregiver tax credit.

“The data in the polling show us that this is a universal issue,” says Martha Cranley, AARP Wisconsin’s state director. “This is about keeping people out of costly long-term care systems—and everybody is for that.”

Rising support

Previous efforts to get a $500 caregiver tax credit through the Wisconsin State Legislature have failed, as have efforts to pass a national Credit for Caring Act that would give caregivers a tax credit of up to $5,000. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin who took care of her own grandmother as she aged, has consistently supported the federal bill over the past decade.

“Anyone who’s served as their loved one’s primary caregiver knows the financial and emotional toll it takes,” Baldwin says.

With the Republican Party supporting a caregiver tax credit in its 2024 platform and President Donald Trump endorsing the policy on the campaign trail, Cranley sees new momentum.

AARP led a letter to Congress from more than 100 organizations urging passage of the federal bill. It would give caregivers a tax credit of 30 percent of their qualifying expenses that exceed $2,000 a year, with a maximum credit of $5,000.

At the state level, Oklahoma in 2023 and Nebraska in 2024 passed state laws creating tax credits of up to $2,000 per year for most eligible family caregivers and up to $3,000 for those caring for someone who is a veteran or who has dementia. The credits would help cover the out-of-pocket costs that people incur when caring for loved ones, such as hiring a home care aide or paying for home modifications.

Though the proposed Wisconsin tax credit would be smaller, it’s an important recognition of the sacrifices caregivers make, Cranley says. “It’s about giving some relief to caregivers—and some acknowledgment of what they’re doing.”

Wisconsin has approximately 580,000 family caregivers who in 2021 provided an estimated 540 million hours of unpaid care valued at $9.2 billion, AARP Public Policy Institute research shows.

Tax credits could also save taxpayers money by helping people stay in their homes and communities—and out of more costly institutions—as they age, says Martin Hernandez, AARP Wisconsin associate state director of advocacy. “It’s a long-term cost savings,” Hernandez notes.

AARP Wisconsin is promoting that message at voter forums and other events across the state, including informal AARP On Tap gatherings, trivia and game nights and baseball games. Volunteer advocates are also joining AARP staff to talk to state and federal elected officials about their own caregiving experiences.

“It has a much greater impact coming from an actual person who’s lived through some of these caregiving situations,” Hernandez says.

As an AARP volunteer, Zimmer, of La Crosse, has advocated for tax credits at the state Legislature and in Washington, D.C. She estimates the couple has spent nearly $18,000 out of pocket on caregiving expenses in the past year.

“If I could get some of that money back, recoup it on my taxes, that would be remarkable, right?” Zimmer says.

She adds: “My goal is to keep him at home as long as I can.”

Learn more at aarp.org/wi.

Hilary Appelman, a New York-based writer, covers long-term care and other issues. She has written for the Bulletin since 2011.

Also of Interest

• 12 Ways for Family Caregivers to Deal With Their Toughest Days
• I'm My 90-Year-Old Mom's Caregiver, But I Still Want a Life. Help!
• 10 Common Mistakes That Family Caregivers Make